The invention disclosed herein relates generally to performing storage operations on electronic data in a computer network. More particularly, the present invention relates to performing storage operations across multiple communication paths within a storage operation system.
Current storage management systems employ a number of different methods to perform storage operations on electronic data. For example, data can be stored in primary storage as a primary copy or in secondary storage as various types of secondary copies including, as a backup copy, a snapshot copy, a hierarchical storage management copy “HSM”, as an archive copy, and as other types of copies.
A primary copy of data is generally a production copy or other “live” version of the data which is used by a software application and is generally in the native format of that application. Primary copy data may be maintained in a local memory or other high-speed storage device that allows for relatively fast data access if necessary. Such primary copy data is typically intended for short term retention (e.g., several hours or days) before some or all of the data is stored as one or more secondary copies, for example to prevent loss of data in the event a problem occurred with the data stored in primary storage.
Secondary copies include point-in-time data and are typically intended for long-term retention (e.g., weeks, months or years depending on retention criteria, for example as specified in a storage policy as further described herein) before some or all of the data is moved to other storage or discarded. Secondary copies may be indexed so users can browse and restore the data at another point in time. After certain primary copy data is backed up, a pointer or other location indicia such as a stub may be placed in the primary copy to indicate the current location of that data.
One type of secondary copy is a backup copy. A backup copy is generally a point-in-time copy of the primary copy data stored in a backup format as opposed to in native application format. For example, a backup copy may be stored in a backup format that is optimized for compression and efficient long-term storage. Backup copies generally have relatively long retention periods and may be stored on media with slower retrieval times than other types of secondary copies and media. In some cases, backup copies may be stored at on offsite location.
Another form of secondary copy is a snapshot copy. From an end-user viewpoint, a snapshot may be thought as an instant image of the primary copy data at a given point in time. A snapshot generally captures the directory structure of a primary copy volume at a particular moment in time, and also preserves file attributes and contents. In some embodiments, a snapshot may exist as a virtual file system, parallel to the actual file system. Users typically gain a read-only access to the record of files and directories of the snapshot. By electing to restore primary copy data from a snapshot taken at a given point in time, users may also return the current file system to the prior state of the file system that existed when the snapshot was taken.
A snapshot may be created instantly, using a minimum of file space, but may still function as a conventional file system backup. A snapshot may not actually create another physical copy of all the data, but may simply create pointers that are able to map files and directories to specific disk blocks.
As indicated, both primary and secondary copies of data may be archived, migrated, and/or recovered across various storage devices in the storage operation system. Several communication paths may be utilized to send or retrieve data between a computer device, and a designated storage device. In addition, the existence of various storage resources may provide multiple options for distributing and managing storage data in the storage operation system. Thus, it may be desirable to provide systems and methods that facilitate the distribution of electronic data in a storage operation system.